A listing of all my many adventures and misadventures in this passion that has overtaken me since I was 25 years old... knitting.

Monday, September 22, 2008

I Have a Confession

Forgive me readers, but I like Sarah Palin.

InexplicableI know it's odd, but I've always liked strong, opinionated women who are well-spoken and a bit sarcastic. I mean really, aren't Carol and Marilyn a little like Sarah? My sisters are a lot like Governor Palin in many ways too, I work with women that are like her. There's just a certain comfort level I have every time I hear her speak.

I even like the fact that she (allegedly) fired the chief of police because he wouldn't fire the guy who was divorcing her sister at the time. Wouldn't you do that for your family if you had the power? A little hint of vengeance or spite always spices a person up in my mind. And you can't tell me it wasn't impressive how she handled Charlie Gibson. Even when she was given a "gotcha" question about the Bush doctrine, she held her composure extremely well. Much better than Quayle ever did, even under much less stressful situations.

So yes, I admit it...I like Sarah Palin.

Current KnittingFor the readers that haven't abandoned me in shame by this point, I can at least say that I've made steady progress on my niece's afghan.

If I can count right, I've completed 14 of the 20 squares. If I push really hard this coming weekend, I might even be able to finish the last 6 squares, but that's a stretch, so I'm not promising anything.

Here's a different view of the stack of afghan squares. I just liked all the pretty colors.

I only flea market at one place on both Saturday and Sunday morning. It's a place in Lambertville, NJ called the Golden Nugget. Mostly I go so that I at least get a small walk in first thing each weekend morning.

I just recently watched a video on YouTube that shows quite clearly how to do ribbing in what seems to be a much more efficient way. Like most things in knitting, it will take me a while to practice this technique until it feels comfortable. I tried it a few times with my sock, but couldn't maintain it for more than 20 stitches or so.

Actually, I hold the yarn in my left hand like most Continentalist knitters, but I throw the yarn instead of picking it. It's the result of having taught myself knitting by watching Americans knit and reading how in a British publication.

wow...you shocked me a bit and then I realized that I'm hating the woman because of the "party" politics surrounding her. Although her politics, anti choice, handgun laws, anti-gay marriage make it hard for me to warm up to the woman.

Does this mean you intend to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket? Surely, you can (admittedly mistakenly) admire the subject in question for her personal characteristics, but still not be in love with her politics.

No, I would not fire someone who refused to fire etc. etc. That screams unethical to me.

I agree with you on so many things (particularly political) but not on this one. Not that I'm going to try and change your mind but the woman just scares the crap out of me And I'm a strong, opinionated, very sarcastic and pretty well spoken woman too. And I even like guns.

I like her too. It bothers me that everyone seems to be more critical of her than a man. But I have found that it always happens with a strong woman, they are considered a bitch, but a man would be considered a real go-getter. I state another example Martha Stewart.

I'm disappointed Joe.So she can deliver some good lines penned by some frat-boy writers - big deal.Strong and opinionated? Can you really stomach those particular opinions? And it seems to be she (and her handlers) are whining plenty about legitimate criticism and hard questions.Frankly she reminds me of those mean girls in high school who were just slightly slutty. And I don't want any of them near the nuclear button either.

I confess that I might be spiteful, too, if I had power. I don't like the librarian issue, though. Anything that smacks of censorship gets my dander up. On anohter note, I hold the yarn in my left hand, but can only comfortably pick when I'm knitting. I have never really figured out how to pick when I purl, so I throw. (What an odd sentence!)

That woman barely deserves to be called female. I'm having to cut back on reading about her because she makes me so angry. And I don't even live in North America. She's certainly nothing like Marilyn or Carol for whom I have a great deal of respect.

The Sarah Palin Must Be Stopped group on Ravelry does a very good job of intellingently presenting the many, many reasons why she indeed must be stopped.

One can only hope that this is perhaps a joke that you are playing on your earnest readers.

Incredible. When you and Thad are driving someplace, and let's say the unimaginable happens, and Thad has a massive heart attack and doesn't make it, and you call 911 and, when help arrives , you are held for questioning by cops who, when they discover that you are not a "real" relative,keep questioning you asking if there's anything else they should know, just think of Sarah and all her righteous strength and christian connections who have ensured not only that you will be treated as a suspect, but will also ensure his body will not be released except to a "real" family member. It happens. Just like this. Good ol' Sarah. She's just one of the good ol' boys.

I'm a card carrying NRA life member, and I don't like her as she's been presented so far. I'm trying to figure out WHY I don't like her, and I think it's the way she's been handled. The whole keeping her away from the press annoys me, but then it's been yonks since any of them have had a real press conference instead of an interview. The whole sarcasm thing annoys me, but that could be the speechwriters. The earmarks thing annoys me, but this also strikes me as a usual political waffle. OTOH, maybe it's just her hair. Whatever. Don't like.

I'm not that fond of Biden either.

Had McCain picked Kay Bailey Hutchinson, they'd have had a better chance of me voting for them. Strictly on an issues basis and the fact that while he wasn't steering the ship, McCain was on the bridge for most of the last 8 years, I'm thinking that's a NO.

to marie taylor ... this country would be far safer with martha stewart with a finger on the button than a fundy, creep like palin ... after all, nuclear holocaust - just like dinosaur bones- are just satan playing a joke. come on people. fucking wake up!

Hi, Joe - Thanks for quoting me in the blog. I figured I'd just get a comment back, not a quotation. Reading your reply caused me to realize that I also throw my knit stitches when doing Continental. But, oddly enough, not when purling. (Hmmm...must be from the way I do crocheting - I throw my yarn around the hook because of being a knitter first.) I'll check out the YouTube video when I get a chance; never hurts to learn a new technique. TAke care - Joe, in Wyoming

That's so funny, Joe, because while I was reading this post, all I could think was how much you are like John McCain: you'll say anything -- no matter how far-fetched or untrue -- to get attention from the public!

Well, THAT'S intertesting. How long have you been attracted to women who would just as soon shoot -and we may presume? field dress you than let you marry, have spousal rights, go to heaven, have children, be an equal citizen in all aspects of society? Zowie POW Batman! So strong women do it for you? Even when they believe you have no rights, evolution is a lie, and that it's ok to compare women with pitbulls? Hummmm. Funny the things we find attractive in one sex is repellent in the other. Whee!!

I like Sara just fine - Doing late night interviews that are bright and funny. She could replace David Letterman.

However, she does not know science and does not listen to her science advisors. Do we want a person like that making decisions in world that runs on technoloby driven by science? Science is about how things work. I want policy makers that understand how things work.

Oh Joe... she's nothing like Carol or Mar. They are intelligent; she is a puppet. She doesn't have an opinion that can be backed up with evidence; she just has opinions that are popular with her support base.

Incidentally, there is an election looming in NZ as well as in Canada. I'll bet you didn't see that in your news either.

WHAT????????? Compare me to Caribou Barbie? You're clearly not in your right mind. As one who has publicly admitted that she's f'ing crazy, I'm telling you to seek help right now. Or I'll start the commitment papers. I not only know where Russia is, I know some Russians. And I speak one language well, two others well enough to get around. That's MY foreign affairs experience. Oh yeah, and screwing a German back when.

Try Norwegian purl once you get the hang of Continental. It takes a while to get it, but I never use regular purl any more, except maybe at the beginning or end of a row because it does stretch the stitch more.k

I think we're being had. There's got to be an already penned post for tomorrow that will negate all of this nonsense. Joe, I don't know you but anyone who reads your blog knows this can't be for real. She's completely and utterly insane and not in a good way. Turn your back from the dark side and let's not have anymore supportive commentary for you know who. Every vote is going to count, let's not turn someone who's sitting on the fence. Yikes!

Maybe Joe's for real here, maybe he isn't, but if he is, he is showing a complex approach to life, being able to hold multiple ideas in his head at once. I think it is possible to like someone and vehemently disagree with their positions on issues, their politics, their religion's takes on human dignity.

Which I do, disagree vehemently with her on almost everything, I mean. But I can still see what might be appealing about her; after all, I'll admit to getting a kick out of Huckabee! But I'm voting for Obama.

OK this post has finally gotten me to come out of lurk. Moosealini's values at completely at odds to the ones I've read on your blog so far so allow me to say that I'm surprised that you like her in spite of that. She may remind you of the women around you but do you want her as your VP?

And I get exhausted looking at English style knitters. I'm so happy I learned to do it Continental style.

I'm hoping that - for reasons yet to be disclosed - we will find that your humor has taken an interesting twist toward the banal and grotesque. Surely this is a grand joke and we will all be dazzled and amazed yet again by your superior wit and charm and that you have not, tragically, morphed into the addled creature who wrote your entry...best wishes for a speedy recovery or, should that fail, enduring silence and obscurity.Sanity may be optional, but good taste is not.

You might like Palin and think that there is something sort of admirable in firing someone due to a family connection, but it is a small version of what we get with Bush now. One of my friends put it pretty well when he posted this re the Bailout:

The only thing I can be relatively sure of is that the Bush Administration has lied countless times before on issues on this order of magnitude, and the proposed solution seems to enormously benefit his big contributors, family, and friends to the tune of billions of dollars, and support his seeming ambition to increase the power of the presidency. Are they lying this time too?

Firing one person (alleged or not) is a small thing compared to what we've dealt with under Bush, but any abuse of power makes it easier to justify more egregious acts later.

That's how I end up knitting in a waythat is more ergonomic and fast for me. That anonymous does not know who you are, because I would have never made that mistake with you lol! The sock is looking good!